Participants: Cheri Peters (Host), Nico Hill
Series Code: CLR
Program Code: CLR000128A
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00:01 The following program discusses sensitive issues
00:03 related to addictive behaviour. 00:05 Parents are cautioned that some material 00:06 may be too candid for younger children. 00:10 There are some people that have been saved 00:13 from the very abyss. 00:15 Surrounded by demons 00:16 and it is a most incredible thing to watch. 00:19 Today's guest, Nico, 00:20 The Dragon is one of those folks. 00:22 It's gonna be amazing. 00:24 Welcome to Celebrating Life in Recovery. 00:25 I'm Cheri, come join us. 00:54 Okay, can God save us from the abyss? 00:57 And my next guest, 00:58 exactly that Called From the Abyss, 01:00 it's an amazing, amazing story or journey. 01:04 But I want to start with some where else 01:05 cause when I first came to Christ, 01:08 when I first got into recovery, 01:10 when I first decided that, man, what if? 01:13 What if I could actually have a normal life? 01:16 What if I could step from all of this darkness 01:17 and turn things over? 01:19 And man, what if God is crazy about me? 01:23 What if He loves me? 01:24 It was a scariest thing, 01:26 one thing went to another and at one point 01:28 somebody gives me a book and the book was called, 01:30 "Ministry of Healing" 01:32 and I read chapter four. 01:34 And chapter four talked about, 01:36 the chapter title is "Saved to Serve." 01:39 And I'm kinda going through that 01:41 and it's all good, 01:42 but I come to this place where it says, 01:45 "That part of the journey was literally 01:48 to look at heaven itself 01:52 and the throne room of God 01:54 and there's a bunch of angels kind of around God 01:56 and they are looking at us." 01:57 'Cause that's the kind of the scene that was set. 01:59 And I'm thinking, 02:01 the throne room of God and angels around Him 02:04 and they're talking about someone like me. 02:07 And the angel says, "Man, can I work with her?" 02:13 That got my attention. 02:15 Can I work with her? 02:16 And can I work with him? 02:18 Can I work with you? 02:19 And what they're saying to God is, 02:21 they are going to stumble around a lot. 02:23 They're gonna relapse, they're gonna mess up. 02:26 They're not gonna be sure of themselves, 02:28 they're gonna have such a hard time 02:29 and I know that I could encourage them. 02:32 I know that I could stand them up. 02:34 And I thought, "Wait." 02:35 There's someone in heaven, 02:38 there's angels in heaven asking to give me 02:41 that kind of strength and that kind of encouragement, 02:43 it changed my life. 02:44 'Cause I thought they would be arguing about the person 02:46 that had it all together. 02:48 The person that literally has degrees in theology 02:51 and can really go out and change someone's life, 02:54 that's not flaky like me, that's not ADD. 02:56 They didn't have addiction stuff, 02:59 that wasn't raised to even question 03:01 whether she had the right to breathe, 03:02 the air she breathe. 03:03 And these angels are calling me out saying, 03:05 "You know what? 03:06 I can help her, I know I can help her." 03:09 And I wanted to cry like a baby. 03:10 I wanted to weep at that 03:12 and saying, "God, 03:14 I have to hold on to the truth of that." 03:16 And I wanna go years later... 03:17 so, you know, 03:18 I really believe that my angel has done all that 03:20 and we'll continue to do all that till my last breath. 03:23 But what was incredible to me, is years later, 03:26 I'm in ministry 03:28 and I'm travelling around the world 03:29 and I'm in Australia 03:31 and I ran into this guy that I am awestruck by. 03:34 I'm really not awestruck by a lot of people, 03:36 I don't know why that is but every once in a while, 03:39 I get star struck. 03:40 And this guy, Allan Lindsay, I'm star struck by, 03:43 when I first came to Christ, he did a book called, 03:45 he did a series called, "Keepers of the Flame." 03:49 And I would sit there or I'd watch this 03:51 and I wouldn't be healed. 03:53 He would say something about some piece of literature 03:56 that he was trying to share 03:57 and I could feel the healing happen, right? 04:00 And so now, I'm in Australia 04:02 and I'm staying at him and his wife's house. 04:04 And I can't even stand it. 04:06 I'm thinking, "God, how do you do that? 04:08 How do you get here from homeless in LA 04:11 strung out on heroin 04:12 with a family that has a various addiction 04:15 to standing in the house of this incredible couple. 04:19 And so I'm doing that outreach 04:21 and I'm working with some folks in Australia 04:23 and I tell Allan 04:27 for the first time in my life, 04:29 "I would like to study what is the judgement? 04:33 What's investigated judgement? 04:35 How is God gonna judge me?" 04:37 'Cause I've been afraid to study that 04:38 because, you know, what? 04:40 Man, if you roll out a scroll of everything 04:43 that I've done wrong, 04:45 all the twisted stuff in my life, 04:47 everything that I would be ashamed of, 04:49 if you roll out that scroll, I couldn't argue any of that. 04:54 I am guilty, I am guilty. 04:56 I'm so far removed from anything that 04:59 I would think that God would value yet, 05:01 I know He values me. 05:02 But I'm afraid, 05:04 how do I learn what the truth is about that? 05:07 So I'm at Allan Lindsay's house. 05:10 So I'll ask him. 05:11 "Allan, I want to study this, where should I go?" 05:14 And he just looked at me and smiled. 05:15 And he said, 05:17 "I want to send you to the testimonies 05:19 and I want you to look at this chapter." 05:21 And so I find it and I open up this chapter 05:25 and it was Joshua and he's praying 05:27 and he's pleading for the people 05:29 and stuff and he's serious. 05:31 He's like, you know, 05:33 'cause you may be in the same boat together. 05:36 So he's like, you know, I wanna pray for them, 05:38 I wanna actually intercede for them. 05:42 And Satan himself stands up. 05:46 Satan stands up and walks around. 05:49 And he walks around like, "Excuse me, 05:52 I just wanna say something. 05:55 You kicked me out of heaven for this guy, 05:59 are you kidding me? 06:01 You kicked me out and this guy gets in. 06:03 Let me tell you what he's done." 06:06 And I couldn't even breathe because that was my fear. 06:09 Is, man, I can't stand up against that kind of argument. 06:13 I don't have anything that I can say 06:15 this is me and it's all good. 06:17 I'm here for the Grace of God. 06:19 I'm here because God said, "Stand up, don't be afraid." 06:22 But, you know, I'm reading this 06:24 and I'm watching that scene 06:26 and scene goes on and on about 06:28 who he is and what he's done 06:29 and finally Jesus Himself has enough. 06:32 When He has enough, 06:34 I could just feel it in the story 06:36 and He walks up and He just quiets everybody. 06:38 And He walks up to Joshua and He says, 06:40 " Joshua, you are standing there 06:43 in filthy garments, 06:45 can I change out your clothes? 06:48 Can I give you something clean to wear?" 06:50 And He covers him with a robe of righteousness, 06:53 so his sins are not even seen 06:57 and He says, "It's done." 06:58 It is finished. 07:00 I have died for him, 07:01 he has the right to be in this room. 07:03 And so what I learned about the judgement is, 07:06 I am... 07:08 it's finished for my case. 07:09 Jesus died for me, He's gonna get me home, 07:12 we're gonna be okay. 07:13 Our next guest, I can't wait till you meet him. 07:16 But I'd like to show you a little roll in of who he is 07:20 and a little bit of what he's done in his life 07:23 and then I'm gonna bring him up. 07:25 I...I just adore this guy, 07:28 incredible. 07:30 But you go ahead and watch this with me. 07:32 All right, now we're going to take you 07:34 into the world of a man who is an ultimate fighter. 07:37 Like the video you are about to see, 07:39 this sport is disturbing for some 07:40 but for "Nico, The Dragon, " it's a way of life. 07:50 It's called the ultimate fighting. 07:52 The idea is to beat your opponent into submission. 07:55 It's been call vicious and barbaric. 07:58 You know, you can't tap out. 08:00 And you can have your corner thrown in the towel, 08:04 but it's an honest thing. 08:06 Nicolas Hill or as he's called Nico, The Dragon, 08:09 is the 1999 UEFA world fighting champion. 08:13 He fought all over the world, for South America, 08:16 for Russia and it's closest Woodland Hill. 08:18 Were you ever scared at any point of time 08:20 when you've been learning? 08:21 Always scared. 08:23 Really? Yeah. 08:24 You learn to make through your friend, 08:25 you just invited in. 08:31 Oh, you may not like it, you may think it's barbaric. 08:34 What it is, is real. 08:35 Nothing phoney about mixed martial arts. 08:37 This feature spotlights 08:39 a local fighter named Nico Hill 08:41 or better known to his fellow competitors 08:42 as Nico, The Dragon. 08:44 And I kid you not, 08:46 this man physically destroys people 08:47 in a steel cage ring. 08:49 But at the same time 08:50 knows the entertainment value of a sports. 08:51 From his movie role, down to his car, The Dragon, 08:55 you can definitely see that Nico has stepped at Hollywood. 08:57 But before he hit the big screen, 08:59 the only way you could catch Nico was on underground video. 09:03 This is how Nico started his career, 09:05 it's known as mixed martial arts 09:07 or cage fighting. 09:08 The object, you and your opponent 09:10 surrounded in a wired cage, 09:12 no rules, fight to the finish. 09:15 You get there, the crowds there, 09:17 they shut the cage behind you, 09:19 it's you and your opponent. 09:20 It's not like football or another teams 09:22 where we've got other people behind you. 09:25 I can't even imagine the angel that said, 09:27 "Let me have that guy." 09:29 He better be a fighter. 09:31 That's all I am saying and I, you know, it's all... 09:34 I'm gonna go ahead and have a break. 09:35 I'm gonna call you back to just meet Nico, 09:39 hear his story and man, 09:41 know that God has the power to change any of us 09:44 and He does it 09:46 because He has a plan for our lives 09:47 and this plan for Nico's life was huge. 09:50 We'll be right back. |
Revised 2016-09-29